Traci Lords: Underneath It All Paperback – June 29, 2004

I finished this book a long time ago, and have been meaning to give a review. This was a good read and really interesting. I'm happy that she found true love with her husband and that he didn't hold her past against her! Blessings to them.

If you are one of those that want to read this book to see the inside of the porn industry, especially told by a porn actress then you would be disappointed like me. But If you want to know and learn from the life of a remarkable human being, then that is an absolute reason to read this book.Traci Lords took the porn industry by storm. Her short but solid participation in porn gave her the name of porn queen but certainly she was a confused girl who was on drugs and did not know what went on at the time.For obvious reasons, Traci did not talked much about that topic in the book and we all can understand why. She must be sick and tired of the same old questions.I keep reading, anyway and found out the story of an extraordinary and strong woman who decided to stand up against all odds. I cruel society that condemned her now matter what she did and how hard she tried to mend her mistakes.This woman not only conquered the film industry. She was a singer, activist and now a writer. I grew up seeing the cover of her porn films and felt so attracted by her sensual look and natural beauty, but now I can see that there is so much more underneath the looks and her great appearance. There is an extraordinary woman that despite all the negative things that she had in her life had the time to find herself and find love! There is much more of Traci underneath it all. Great book.

Underneath It All by Traci Lords is an honest and soul baring account on how the author’s childhood shaped her adult years. She charts her early life as a young girl in the Midwest who naturally has dreams of a better life and is greatly influenced to want more as a result of living part of her life near a university in Ohio. There are a wide range of information pieces that she recalls in her memoir (such as how her biological parents met. the heart-wrenching rape incident that she suffered as a child, how she first came into the racier side of modeling, the roles that both her biological mother and stepfather played in her life). She also creatively tied in her career progression with her love life as she recalled the men who had an influence in some of her professional projects. One of my favorite parts of the book was when she recalled her joy at being cast in the Cry-Baby movie and being cast alongside multiple famous celebrities attached to the film. I can easily understand how the traumatic rape experiences she suffered in her early years indirectly contributed towards her world view on how her own sensuality and life operated. Without providing too many book spoilers from Traci Lord’s book, I say this because I myself was traumatized from a rape experience inflicted on me around the age of 5-6 years old orchestrated by my late biological mother for the benefit of who was either one of her lovers and/or clients (I’m not sure because my late adoptive mother (around the time I was 11-13 years old) admitted to me that my late biological mother worked as a prostitute). Anyhow, Lords provides subtle hints on how what happened to her indirectly contributed to the way she felt about the areas of love and sensuality and her brave journey towards seeking therapy. There is so much more in this book written by a woman who poured much of her artistic soul towards telling an honest and unadulterated story.

When I saw Crybaby for the first time, a friend told me that Traci used to be a former porn star and centerfold model and I was suprised she made the transition from porn star to an actress in A movies and not just B movies, having a background like that. Here and there I'd catch bits and pieces about her and the things that she had gone through but really knew nothing about her.I was reading a magazine one day that had a review of her book with an excerpt as well, and it caught my eye, especially since the magazine gave the book a pretty good rating.I still have a few pages left to finish, but I pretty much get the gist of what's going to happen in the end. The book is an easy, quick read, and sometimes it was hard for me to set down. A lot of the times I found that some parts/chapters could have been left out of her tale, but all in all it's a decent book, entertaining and even captivating at times. People who know a lot about her probably wouldn't enjoy this book, but for others who only know a little about Traci and would like to know more, this is something to read.